The Men Who Saved The Future
by cxy31337
Summary: An astronaut and a cosmonaut crash lands into Third Earth. They have one job, to investigate the mysterious destruction of their home world, little do they know that much has changed since the last millennium.
1. Chapter 1:Crash Landing

**The Men Who Saved The Future**

Based of the notorious yet ludicrous Turkish 'Star Wars', 'The Man Who Saves The World'

Thundercats belongs to Warner/RankinBass.

Chapter 1: Crash landing

It's been a millennium since humanity have abandoned Earth, in the year 13055 HE (Holocene Epoch), or 1000 PE (Post Exodus). A great cataclysm has struck their home world, Earth, just as they arrived to Alpha Centauri. Communications to the Solar System was disconnected immediately when it happened, followed by the mysterious disappearance of their scheduled cargo ships. Back then, they're too far away from home to be able to investigate. They settled on the planets there, and founded a new settlement for mankind, Nova Terra.

They faced hardships as they build a new home for themselves, with little resources and specialists, they made use of what they could find, and were forced to relearn everything. But as they began to settle on this new world, their home world was slowly forgotten. Earth is nothing more than a myth, and countless legends arise about humanity's origins.

It was fairly recently, a few decades ago, that they have sent probes to investigate Sol, their home star. Their probes mysteriously vanished as soon as it reaches between Mars and Venus. Based on the last footage found, it was clear that Earth was nearly destroyed by an unknown evil. Who is that great evil, and what are its origins?

Now, a few brave men are to be sent to Earth. They have one mission, to investigate the origins of this great evil, and eliminate it.

Comrades Zapad and Roger, flew their multipurpose spacecraft, the 'Antares X' as they embarked on a journey to Earth from the Rigel Kent space station on the edge of Alpha Centauri star system. The duo feared the great evil, but the still boldly face their perilous journey back to Sol. While they spent a huge portion of time in suspended animation, those few moments awake were the fuel for the inner fears of those two brave cadets.

"Zapad, you know that we might not get back to our space station. This could be our last trip"

Roger, the astronaut, voiced his concerns as he programs the spacecraft to switch to manual pilot when arriving at Mars orbit. Zapad attempts to calm Roger down.

"Chill out, Roger. We're not that terrible, or we could not have been enlisted to this mission"

Zapad leaves the cockpit, heads for the food dispenser, and gets a glass of Vodka and Citrus. The food dispenser molecularly produces the drink and pumps the lime green carbonated drink into a plastic packet. He sips his beverage, and smiled.

"Ah, nothing's more relaxing than a glass of Vodka and Citrus. Would you like to drink something?", smiled Zapad with pleasure from the taste of the synthesized alcoholic drink. The food dispenser has always served its purpose, capable of producing any food and beverage using an algal-bacterial-yeast complex to synthesize molecular compounds and processed into foodstuff.

"A glass of Whiskey and Root Beer, please"

Zapad gets another plastic pack containing a deep brown carbonated drink and returns to the cockpit. Rodgers sips the drink using a straw as he looks closely at the window of the cockpit as he saw the asteroid belt passes towards them.

"Any minute now, we're heading towards the inner system. Soon, we'll reach Earth within landing distance. Let's suit up, and prepare to manual piloting, we won't have much time when we passed Mars"

Zapad and Roger head to the crew quarters and began changing their uniforms for their planetary exploration suit, built for exploring nitro-oxygen atmosphere planets. The limited recordings from probes doesn't indicate any disturbance with the planetary ecosphere, so breathing in its atmosphere is possible. When they're all suited up, they head to the cockpit to find their ship has passed through Mars.

"Get ready, Zapad. We're going manual pilot, probes had disappeared from that point onward. We must be careful"

Roger steers their spacecraft, navigating through the countless debris as the spacecraft heads towards Earth. Zapad aims the microwave turret and shoots down incoming debris. The duo were having a rough time navigating the messy space, and had a feeling that something was very wrong.

As their spacecraft got closer to Earth, Rodgers saw the ruins of the International Space Station, torn apart from the cataclysm.

"Zapad, look! That's the former International Space Station, where our forefathers began their journey to Alpha Centauri. Whatever that great evil is, it must have pure destruction"

Just as Zapad watched the relic of their former space station in awe, he noticed a small, sharp debris heading toward them.

"Rogers, watch out! Incoming debris!"

It was too late, the debris flew past them, and has pierced the hull of the spacecraft. The craft is starting to lose power, and began free-falling towards the Earth. Roger steers their spacecraft towards safety, passing through the atmosphere as the spacecraft burns up due to friction. Zapad looks for a safe spot to crash land. As the spacecraft was heading towards the former Central Asia, Roger steers their spacecraft to a landing position, and prepared to crash land.

When their spacecraft reaches the surface, it crashes, drifted for another 50 kilometers before stopping. The astronaut and the cosmonaut were shaken and stirred.

"Ugh, we probably shouldn't have drunk any alcohol"

"I swore that we are not drunk at all"

"Anyway, we better leave the craft, and see whether we can fix this damage"

Zapad and Roger left the spacecraft to inspect the damage cause by the debris. The looked into the hole caused by the debris, and saw the fusion generator was damaged, with the reactor containment unit broken, pierced by the debris. The deuterium and tritium tanks are also pierced, leaking tritiated and heavy water.

"Oh Stalin, the fusion generator is broken, and the fuel tanks' leaking. With that much radiation, we can't possibly repair this craft"

"We must abandon craft, take everything that we can salvage. There's a rover inside the craft, load our equipment inside, and head for shelter"

So, they packed up their belongings, and embarked on a journey, to uncover the mysteries of the fallen Earth, and to defeat this great evil. Armed with their trusty thermal-electric-kinetic combination pistol, their diamond edged titanium tomahawks, and their multi-tool pocket computer, the astronaut and the cosmonaut began their greatest adventure yet.


	2. Chapter 2:Planet of the Animals

**The Men Who Saved The Future**

Based of the notorious yet ludicrous Turkish 'Star Wars', 'The Man Who Saves The World'

Thundercats belongs to Warner/RankinBass.

Chapter 2: Planet of the Animals

Zapad and Roger drove their rover through the barren Transoxiana steppes, hoping to make contact with any humans who happened to be on Earth. But with their rover's hydrogen fuel running out, they began to worry that they might not make it before they made any discovery. Just as they are about to lose hope, Zapad began to have an idea.

'Roger, maybe we can use our signal broadcaster to call for aid, maybe someone can find us'

'It's worth a shot, activate the broadcast'

Zapad turns on the signal broadcaster, and the rover began generating a loud siren, broadcasting far and wide, emitting a loud, beeping sound. At first, nothing happened, but just as the conclude there's nothing around, they heard some movement. Roger turned back, and saw several armored trucks carrying ape-like creatures armed with assault rifles and heavy armor. Zapad looked in front to saw lizard creatures on armored jeeps. Jackalmen troops on tanks came to them on both sides. It became very clear that they've been ambushed

'I'm afraid we used the wrong signal'

'Why do you think so?'

'Instead of men, we got monkeys. Lizards came instead of ladies'

'Will not broadcast again, Zapad'

Just then, the leader of the squadron showed up in front of them. The Lizard leader questioned them in the open.

'Stand and deliver, who are you and where do you came from?'

The Monkey leader squinted at them, realizing that they certainly don't look familiar.

Just then, the Jackal leader took his dagger and pointed at cosmonaut Zapad's neck, as he inspects Zapad's face.

'Addicus, they're definitely not one of those Cats. Looked nothing like them'

'They do seem to know something, Kaynar. Mumm-Ra will be pleased to meet those space people'

Slithe stared at the astronaut and the cosmonaut, thinking what to do with them.

'Now, either you surrender yourselves, or you can die trying to fight back'

Roger turned to Zapad, and with a confident face, asked Zapad.

'Do you know what I'm thinking?'

'Da, Roger. Time for a workout'

And they sprang into action, ready for battle. Zapad shoots the Lizard infantry with his dual pistols as he jumps, and proceeds to shoot down the other attacking Lizards, kicking those who charged at him. Roger hacks the attacking Monkey infantry with his dual tomahawks, and proceeds to jump and strike another Monkey. As the Jackal infantry shoots them with their Gauss rifles, Zapad quickly dodged their attacks as he somersaults, and proceeds to smite them with his pistols. Roger spins his tomahawk wielding hands as he strikes any incoming enemy who dared to charge at him, hitting them one after another.

As the last infantry was defeated, the duo charged at the commanders and proceeds to punch them. And alas, all of the Animals are defeated. Thinking that they have seen it all, they proceed to raid their vehicle's fuel and supplies, and they continue their journey.

As day turns to night, the duo camped out, wondering what had Earth got into for so long.

'Zapad, don't you think something's amiss? Whatever we have faced just now, are clearly animals. Don't you think that someone must have uplifted them?'

'Roger, it gets worse, they mentioned someone or something called ... Mumm-Ra. It must be the great evil that have destroyed Earth'

'It's possible that Mumm-Ra's the one who has uplifted the animals, to serve him. That could be the reason why we haven't saw any humans'

'Speaking of which, I wonder whether anyone else who we part of the expedition team arrived safely?'

'Try contacting our fellow teammates, Zapad'

Zapad uses the multi-tool computer to locate their fellow teammates. Unfortunately, he couldn't find the signal of his team members.

'What the Lenin? Apparently, there's no signal to our fellow crew. What happened to them?'

'What happened to them is not important, the important thing is that we must continue our mission, to find Mumm-Ra and destroy him'

'Well, there's nothing much to do. Let's just take a rest, we'll set out before dawn'

Zapad and Roger went back into the rover and hit the sack. When the dawn comes, and they woke up, they came to meet a massive surprise. They happened to face a brown-haired woman with brownish marks, aiming a pistol at them.

'So, you're the space men Mumm-Ra mentioned, I suppose?'

Zapad smiled, trying not to panic from the surprise, and responded.

'Yeah, is there anything we can help you?'

'You can start by explaining things. Where do you came from?'

Roger bravely responded to her.

'Roger and Zapad, exploration team from Nova Terra. We're scouting this planet for artifacts and abandoned settlements'

'What did you know about the Stones of Power? Where are the Thundercats!'

'Excuse me, my lady. We don't know anything about them. We just came here like 24 hours ago'

'Very well, guess you all leave me no choice. I'll have to take you all to Mumm-Ra'

Pumyra ties them up, brought them to the rover and took their rover with her. As she drives to the Black Pyramid, Roger commented on the incident.

'Oh boy, if we ain't coming to face Mumm-Ra, Mumm-Ra would have to bring us to him'

'Be quiet, Roger. We're just damn lucky to not to search for him ourselves'

'Anyway, miss. What's your name?'

'Pumyra. You two seem to look identical to what Mumm-Ra claimed to be the people of First Earth'

Roger was shocked to hear Pumyra referring Earth with the prefix First, he felt that Earth must have been through several changes.

'Wait, First Earth? What does now make this place?'

'Third Earth. Mumm-Ra sent his army to capture you two when he saw an unknown craft landing here. After you two defeated his army, he seemed to realize that you two are the descendants of those who first imprison him, and thus may held the key to defeat Lion-O and the Thundercats. So he sent me to capture you two, and how convenient, I found you two sleeping in your vehicle'

'Tell me about it. We probably should have gone autopilot'

'What's the point, Zapad. Now we can get to Mumm-Ra, we can be able to rid him once and for all, and then we can get back to Earth'

'I don't think so, you two will be held in prison in the Black Pyramid, where you'll have to wait until Mumm-Ra decided what to do with you. For a First Earther, you're quite annoying'

Eager to change the subject, Roger decided to chat about her background.

'I'm pretty sure you must have a crush on someone, because you're quite good looking, miss'

Pumyra was a bit annoyed by Roger's words, she remembered the time spent with Lion-O until the moment Avista was attacked. She swore to avenge her abandonment by Lion-O, but so far she haven't met him again.

'I did not have a relationship with anyone, don't be such a busybody'

Roger laughed as he heard her reply.

'Heh heh, that's the kind of lie I heard from anyone who do have a relationship with someone'

'Will you stop this accusation! I serve no one but Mumm-Ra!'

Ever the coy lad he was, he doubled down on his remarks.

'Aw, why so feisty? You must be angry at something, and boy, that's some fury talking'

'Shut up! There's nothing wrong about my past, you gossiper! Now keep quiet!'

Roger, angered by her scowling, and began to lecture her on his people's hard times.

'Hey, did you know that my people used to be from this planet? We called it Earth, this is our home world. The thing is, the moment our colonists arrived at Alpha Centauri, we lost all communications to Earth, and our scheduled cargo ships on Earth disappeared. We had a tough time settling on the planets there. We lost our home world from a great cataclysm, for Kennedy's sake! That's one thousand years since we left Earth, and we're the only ship in Alpha Centauri. How does it feel to have your homeland destroyed, and there's nothing that you can do about it?'

Suddenly Pumyra remembered her pre-death experience. She remembered the time she defended Thundera, but was crushed by a boulder on her lower body when Thundera fell. What's worse, she was left behind by Lion-O, Tygra and Cheetara, forced to die a slow and painful death. She was convinced that they have abandoned his people. Since her resurrection by Mumm-Ra, she spent her time as a spy on the Thundercats. Throughout those times before here betrayal, she has started to have an affection with Lion-O. Now, as she heard Roger's explanation on his people's hardships, she realized that perhaps, they know her plight.

Pumyra stopped the rover, thinking about the words Roger said. She pondered whether she should continue her vengeance, or turn back.

'What's the matter, Pumyra? Did I said anything wrong, or did I said anything right about you?'

Without further words, she turned back towards Roger, and slapped him in the face. Zapad laughed over Roger being slapped, while Roger's let out a displeased look on his slap-marked face.

'Ha ha ha, served you right for making her angry. That's going to leave a mark'

'Shut up, Zapad. You could receive the same punishment'

And the duo kept their mouth shut, not willing to anger Pumyra again. Pumyra kept having the memories of her past moving around her head as she drove the rover to the Black Pyramid.

Meanwhile, Mumm-Ra was observing the duo through a viewing portal. He seemed quite interested with the astronaut and the cosmonaut.

'Fascinating, those Humans have quite a slick tongue and a tough will. Clearly, they are the legitimate descendants of those who once imprisoned me. But what can I possibly do with those Humans in my plans to take over the universe?' asked Mumm-Ra to the Ancient Spirits of Evil.

The Ancient Spirit of Evil responded to Mumm-Ra.

'The Humans possess the raw power of the Trinity Force, The Father of the Sky, The Mother of the Earth, and The Spirit of the Sea. Those who possess the power must return to their home world for the power to be in full force. Once you have obtained their raw power, not even the Stones of Power can defeat it!'

'How can I obtain such power? They don't seem to be anything special yet'

'Their powers can be extracted by combining with the Essence of Mind and Body. The Thundercats may hold the Mind Essence and Body Essence. Once combined, the Armor of Plun-Darr can be enhanced, and you shall be invincible against anyone who oppose you.'

'Seems like the Thundercats must be captured for their powers to manifest. I'll send my generals after them. The humans won't be of any threat to me in the meantime.'

Mumm-Ra turned towards Vultaire, and gave his command.

'Now, Vultaire. Design a machine that extract their Trinity Force, and capture the Thundercats after that'.

'Got it, master'

Vultaire left Mumm-Ra's lair as he deviously planned the design for the machine.


	3. Chapter 3:Lost Ancient Astronauts

**The Men Who Saved The Future**

Based of the notorious yet ludicrous Turkish 'Star Wars', 'The Man Who Saves The World'

Thundercats belongs to Warner/RankinBass.

Chapter 3: Lost Ancient Astronauts

Lion-O and the Thundercats were crossing the narrow mountain path on their mission to locate the fourth Stone of Power. For Lion-O, the failure to obtain the Tech Stone proved to be a devastating blow, he's having a challenging time keeping himself together without thinking about it. Since then, they've continued their mission to obtain the Stones of Power, with little or no breakthrough.

Exhausted from this lengthy journey, WilyKat complained about his tiredness

'Aw, man. We walked for 7 weeks and we can't even find anything! Couldn't we take a break?'

Lion-O kept walking, ignoring WilyKat's pleas. He knew very well that he must quickly obtain the Soul Stone in order to get back on track in the quest to defeat Mumm-Ra. The thought of losing the Tech Stone to Pumyra, who turned against him made him even more determined to find the Soul Stone, regardless of the hardships faced.

'Our supplies are running dry, Lion-O. We must find food and water, or we'll perish in the mountains'

Cheetara was worried over Lion-O lately. He seemed to be getting desperate lately. Although it's true that their defeat back in Avista was a major setback, Lion-O was too bothered by that incident to ever relax.

'Brother, I know how that defeat feels like, but it clearly isn't your fault, Lion-O. Pumyra's at fault here, not you. Get over with this!'

Tygra was just as worried as Cheetara, as he walked alongside Lion-O. Lion-O suddenly stopped, and turned toward the rest of the Thudercats.

'I know, Tygra. But every time I thought about it, I kept thinking that I shouldn't have saved Pumyra. I should have left her in the Pit. She backstabbed me right at the last moment, and now Mumm-Ra is edging to victory. How can I not stay vigilant?'

'But still, you can't just put us all in such gruelling situation because of it. We should take a break, and figure out our next step'

Lion-O calms down, regain a clear head, and agreed to Tygra's proposal.

'I agree. Let's take a break'

So, the Thundercats went into a cave, and sat down on the rocks there. There, Lion-O took out the Book of Omens, and decided to look onto it.

'Maybe this could help me in the search for the Soul Stone'

Lion-O began opening the Book of Omens, and his soul was sent inside immediately.

Lion-O found himself again seeing throught the eyes of Leo, and found himself with Panthera. Although he once experienced the past as Leo before, he couldn't understand why he had to experience it again.

'Leo, there's something you need to see. We have found three unknown men floating outside the ship. They seemed to be passed out, so we sent them to the infirmary. Follow me and I'll lead you to him', explained Panthera

Leo and Panthera walked to the infirmary, and saw the passed out vyomanaut, spationaut and taikonaut lying on the bed. Tygus was standing right beside the vyomanaut's bed.

The vyomanaut slowly began to wake up, and found himself facing three cat people.

'Who are you? How did I end up here?', asked the vyomanaut fearfully.

Leo looked at the dazed yet frightened vyomanaut, and tried to comfort him.

'My name's Leo and this is Panthera and Tygus. We found you and your partners floating outside the ship along with your damaged craft. We brought you inside and allow you three to recover'

'Whatever happened to our crew members? We're supposed to return to the Rigel Kent space station, but asteroids have damaged our craft and it explodes, ejecting all of us. We passed out from the blast, and didn't wake up until just now'

The taikonaut and the spationaut slowly wakes up, and started to look at their fellow vyomanaut.

'What on this galaxy is going on? Where are we?', asked the taikonaut, speaking in a blurred manner.

'We're saved by those cat people, and we'll be with them for a long time until we find a way to return home'

'Aw that's just great. How are we supposed to explain this to the higher ups?', complained the taikonaut.

'More importantly, how can we get back home. I demand you to take me to your captain!', said the spationaut furiously.

Panthera was shocked to realize what the spacemen demanded. There's no way Mumm-Ra will let them go that easily. He might have other plans for them. But nevertheless, she can't just disappoint the spacemen. She'll have to figure out another way.

Tygus pondered the spationaut's demands, and decided to allow them to meet Mumm-Ra.

'Very well, you may meet the captain of this ship. I'll lead you there'

Tygus, Leo and Panthera led the three humans to the bridge, to meet Mumm-Ra in his ever-living form. Tygus explained to Mumm-Ra about the humans.

'Your Lordship, the humans have recovered, and they intent to meet you'

Mumm-Ra turned towards Tygus, and saw three stunned humans starring at him. The humans seemed terrified.

'Who exactly are you?', asked the spationaut.

'Can somebody explain to us what is going on here?', asked the taikonaut.

'And can you at least send us back to the Rigel Kent space station?' asked the vyomanaut

'Well, well, well. You three must be the spacemen Captain Tygus told me about, aren't you?', asked Mumm-Ra.

'Why of course, we're the Orion V research team who were called to the Rigel Kent space station', explained the spationaut.

'You humans reminded me of those who first imprisoned me. For over 4000 years ago, when I'm just a priest named Wahankh, I sold my soul to the Ancient Spirits of Evil in order to gain unlimited power in my attempt to overthrow the Pharaoh. Unfortunately, the Pharaoh at the time, Akhenaten, heard of my plans, and has ordered his guards to capture me as soon as I sold my soul, and he had his priests to imprison me into my tomb', explained Mumm-Ra, gleefully remembering the times back in Ancient Egypt.

'I waited for a long time waiting for some fool to awaken me again, and surely enough, some fanatical militant foolishly ventured into my tomb, awakening me as he was busily smashing the walls inside. And when he saw me in my decaying form, he was scared soulless. I turned into my ever-living form, and had every last human on First Earth decimated. For me, it was payback for what those humans had done for me'

Mumm-Ra smiled as he remembers the time he destroyed every attacking human with his powers with ease. The wailing screams, the fiery explosions and the mass destruction of human civilization brought immense pleasure to his mind.

'But it isn't enough for me, so I have granted every animal sapience, and with Cats to rule over every other Animal races, I set out on a conquest to subject every last planet under my rule. It is, after all, what the Ancient Spirits of Evil have in mind, and so do I. To do that, I must locate the four stones of power, and to build an ultimate weapon to rule them all. It has never occurred to me that there are some humans who survived the apocalypse, until I met you three'

'Now, I, Mumm-Ra, the ever-living, will ask you only a few questions. Answer, and you'll live; refuse, and you'll perish. How did you humans survive? Where are they? You humans better tell me the right answer, or your death will serve a warning unto those who dare to defy me'

The taikonaut, spationaut and the vyomanaut were angered to hear Mumm-Ra's demands. It became very clear why Mumm-Ra let them stay inside the ship. He wanted to use their information on humanity's new home to seek out and destroy every last human, ensuring no future resistance against him.

The spationaut took his flaregun, and aimed at Mumm-Ra bravely. Panthera had a bad feeling about this situation.

'In the name of the Intercosmos Space Agency, I, Clemont, and my fellow comrades, Kumran and Wei, will never allow my crew mates, or my fellow humans, to be destroyed. Expect the truth about our homeworld Earth's destruction to be known by mankind!', the spationaut declared.

'Very well, Clemont. I'll make sure no human will ever know about this little incident. I'll have to have you, shall we say, terminated', said Mumm-Ra, smiling cruelly, enjoying the thought of destroying the humans.

Clemont shoots Mumm-Ra at his face with his flaregun, distracting Mumm-Ra from the flashing attack.

'Run, my comrades!', shouted Clemont, as he runs away from Mumm-Ra, attempting to escape. Kumran and Wei followed Clemont's path.

'What are you waiting for? Capture those humans! I want them alive!' screamed Mumm-Ra, as he recovers from the attack. Leo, Panthera and Tygus quickly chased after the humans.

'Humans? Rigel Kent? Akhenaten? What exactly i going on here?' pondered Leo. He has found out one of the most disturbing truths about Mumm-Ra, but still it couldn't explain what humans have played in the past.

The three humans race through the corridors, searching for an escape pod to escape the ship. As they sprinted their way out, the passed through a vast prisoner holding unit. Kumran turned around as he saw a vast array of Animal races imprisoned, Lizards, Monkeys, Jackals, Elephants, Rats, Birds, almost every reptile, avian and mammal they can think of. Shaking his head, Kumran looked forward and continue their search for the escape pod.

The three humans have found themselves at a dead end, a pressurized door. They can't possibly escape now, and were stuck between being captured and tortured, or die outside the harsh, deadly space.

Leo and Panthera finally caught up with the trio, leading to their fear of being captured again.

'What have we gotten themselves into? We're doomed, there's nothing else we can to save ourselves', lamented Wei.

'I knew the whole truth, humans. I realized what Mumm-Ra did to your kind, and what he's trying to do. I can't let you three captured, but I'm afraid I can't help you anymore. Your survival is compromised. I'm left with no choice, I must eject you three before Tygus finds you', said Panthera, bringing the bad news to the humans.

'It's all over. We'll die outside the cold vacuum of space', said Clemont, saddened by their conclusions.

'Well, we can't endanger the rest of humanity for the sake of us', said Wei.

'We lost our home world Earth, it must never happen again. They're the last defense for our survival', said Kumran.

The three humans walked towards the pressurized door, and smiled. Kumran threw a plastic sheet towards Panthera, and saluted. Panthera caught the plastic sheet.

'Now, open the door!' ordered Kumran.

Panthera walked towards the switch, and prepared to activate it. She wavered her intent when she thought about their willingness to self-sacrifice to save their kind.

'Farewell, Panthera. Humanity depends on you two', said Clemont, feeling sad about their voluntary death.

'Farewell', muttered Panthera, and opened the door.

Leo saw the door open, causing the vacuum to suck the air inside the ship from the lower pressure. The humans are ejected outside, leading to their demise. The humans made their last hour farewell salutes before they slowly pass out.

Lion-O suddenly found himself awake and back in his own body. He saw the rest of the Thundercats asleep inside the cave, surrounding the lit bonfire. Lion-O went to sleep, wondering what could this latest information help in their quest to defeat Mumm-Ra.


	4. Chapter 4:A Black Pyramid Scheme

**The Men Who Saved The Future**

Based of the notorious yet ludicrous Turkish 'Star Wars', 'The Man Who Saves The World'

Thundercats belongs to Warner/RankinBass.

Chapter 4: A Black Pyramid Scheme

Roger and Zapad, both captured by Pumyra, were finally brought to the black Pyramid after several days of inglorious arrest by Pumyra. Throughout their journey, their only entertainment was talking with Pumyra. At first Pumyra disliked talking with the duo, but their journey proved to have formed a bond between Pumyra and the duo, as Roger and Zapad explained about conditions in Nova Terra, the humans' perilous attempt at colonizing the new worlds, and their new civilization while calmly endure the grueling journey.

Despite Pumyra's slowly changing heart for the duo, she still continued her mission, to bring the astronaut and the cosmonaut to Mumm-Ra. As long as she got to avenge her abandonment, she'll do whatever Mumm-Ra ordered her to. Even then, she wavered over her decision.

Pumyra returned to the Black Pyramid, and brought the duo to Mumm-Ra's chambers, reporting on her success.

'My lord, I have captured the two spacemen. They're quite tough and sly for a naive First Earther'

Mumm-Ra was pleased to see Roger and Zapad on his hands. With the right method, he can extract their raw power of the trinity force, and defeat the Thundercats once and for all.

'Excellent, Pumyra. Now, change to your armor and prepare to seek out the Soul Stone with Slithe, Addicus and Kaynar. Vultaire will tell you where it is'

'I oblige, my lord', replied Pumyra, and left the chambers, leaving Roger and Zapad in front of Mumm-Ra, starring at the old, wretched mummy.

'Now, humans. Just because the Thundercats are trying to defeat me, doesn't mean your kind will be ignored. I've been trying to destroy your kind ever since I met those three spacemen centuries ago. They showed the same tough will as you two. But I now know better, you two possess the trinity force, the ultimate power that rivals or even outmatch the Sword of Plun-Darr'

Mumm-Ra can tell that the two humans haven't revealed their full power. Their confusion over his words and their powerlessness confirmed Mumm-Ra's hunch.

'Vultaire, take those humans away, and have their trinity force extracted, by hook or by crook', ordered Mumm-Ra to Vultaire.

'Yes, my lordship', replied Vultaire, walking towards the humans. 'You two did serious harm to Slithe, Addicus and Kaynar, they're forced into recovery due to your combat abilities. They got better though.'

Zapad laughed over Vultaire's explanation.

'Ha, ha. You heard that, Roger? We kicked their sorry asses hard'

'It's clear that your powers have manifested since your return to Earth. With my extractor, I'll take every joule of your power, and concentrate it into a stone rivalling the stones of power'

Vultaire hauled the duo into his lab, mounted them into a restraint in a part bizarre, complex machine. He set up the machine, to calibrate the system, and activate the extraction process.

'Now, humans. This may hurt a bit... For a masochist', said Vultaire, mockingly.

Roger and Zapad were worried over Vultaire's plans.

'This can never be good', commented Roger.

The machine lets out a loud, deep hum. The duo were undergoing a painful electric shock, bringing them great pain.

'Argh! This sting more than a taser!' screamed Roger.

'It sears my groin like steam!' exclaimed Zapad.

The machine began extracting their trinity force, but despite the ever-increasing intensity, the machine failed to extract their power. When the process ends, the duo were left shaken and stirred.

'Ugh, I'm feeling like I'll vomit', commented Zapad.

'Just as I expected, your powers aren't activated yet', commented Vultaire.

'I seem like I'll be better off asking Addicus for those Thundercats

Vultaire turns on the display screen, and turned to Addicus.

'Addicus, have you located the Thundercats?'

'Not yet, Vultaire. I'm right on the mountain pass, where there will be a cave', Addicus replied.

'Capture the Thundercats if you can, at least those two young kits. They're all I need to activate the two humans' powers'

'Got that, Vultaire'

Vultare then turned to the two humans, and decided to put them in prison.

'Looks like there's nothing I can do to you two. I'll just have to store you two in the dungeons'

'Get me a sick bag while you're at it, I don't think I can hold my stomach', said Zapad, feeling queasy after the ordeal.

The duo were brought to the dungeons, and threw them inside.

'Now listen up, fur-less freaks, stay put. You're not done yet', reminded Vultaire

Vultaire left the dungeons, leaving the duo behind bars.

'Some brilliant plan you have, Roger!', shouted Zapad angrily.

'It's not like we have some choice! Plus, it sounded like a clever idea at the time', replied Roger.

'Yeah, yeah, Mr. Yankee Doodle. We're gonna sit here until we get messed up by Vultaire's experiment again', said Zapad, mocking Roger's planning.

'Don't call me that, Zapad. We're still a bunch of dumb-heads in a world full of animal folk. How exactly can we get out of this dungeon? I hope Vultaire didn't take our things away.', asked Roger.

Zapad took out the nano-robotic screwdriver from his leg pockets.

'Remember this? We cracked open a vending machine back at the crew quarters at the Rigel Kent Space Station and stole snacks and drinks using this tool', explained Zapad.

'Brilliant, Zapad. Crack open the locks now', said Roger.

Zapad quickly use the nano-robotic screwdriver, and attempt to break open the lock. It didn't take long before Zapad unlocked the lock.

The duo left their prison, and sneaked out in their attempt to escape.

As Roger and Zapad navigate through the narrow dungeon complex, Roger turned around, and saw a large figure in another prison. Roger approached the figure's prison

'Excuse me, who exactly are you? How long have you been here?', asked Roger.

The figure didn't respond to Roger.

'Are you one of the exploration team sent from Rigel Kent?', asked Roger again.

The figure suddenly responded loudly.

'Be quiet! I had enough of you two guards! You two showed no respect for elders.'

Roger and Zapad were suddenly shocked to hear the voice of the old figure.

The figure moved towards them, and appearing from the shadows, a bald, blind old cat-man is revealed.

'Sorry, you two don't seem to smell like those vile lizards. Quite contrary, you two smelled different. The name's Lynx-O, General of the Thunderian Army. I may be blind, but I can hear and smell you two better', explained Lynx-O.

'No time to talk, we're going to save you. Come on, join us, and we'll escape this place', said Roger, fearing detection. Zapad quickly unlock Lynx-O's prison and rescue him.

'I know where's the escape route. Those Lizards may be smart enough to perceive my blindness as a disability, but they can't remember the fact that what one may lack in sight, it will be compensated by my sense of hearing and smell. Follow me and I'll show the way', said Lynx-O.

As Lynx-O led the way as they sneaked out the dungeons, looking for an exit. As they walk through the dark corridors looking for a backdoor exit, Roger and Zapad began their chat with Lynx-O.

'So, Lynx-O, you said that you're the General of the Army of Thundera. Where exactly is Thundera?', asked Zapad

'Far away from this place, and I was captured for months. I know not where we are.', replied Lynx-O

'We have a multi-tool computer, that can cross reference our location with the map of this planet.', explained Roger.

'Good plan, Roger. After we reclaim our rover, we can get out of this place and hopefully figure out how to defeat Mumm-Ra.', replied Zapad.

'You mean you have something to get us far away from here?', questioned Lynx-O.

'Certainly, but we'll need you to explain us about everything', affirmed Roger.

They soon arrived at the armory complex, where weapons, armor and war-machines were held. Roger and Zapad were impressed by the arsenal of equipment in stock.

'The guards are coming, keep your cover', warned Lynx-O, smelling the presence of lizard guards approaching. They quickly hid under the stockade of firearms, and waited for the lizard guards to pass. After confirming their lack of detection, the quickly moved away as they search for the rover.

The search end when Zapad saw their rover, but was amazed by the fact that it was converted into some form of light tank, making it nearly unrecognizable.

'They really know a good gear when they see one. Here's hoping that some off our old equipment remains', said Zapad in amazement.

Roger and Zapad quickly entered their hyper-modified rover, hoping to find some of the equipment salvaged from the spacecraft. The things salvaged from the spacecraft were many, survival tools, cleaning materials, reference manuals, but of their most importance is the food dispenser, the source of those few enjoyable moments while awake just before landing.

'Well, what did you know, the food dispensed that we pulled out of our spacecraft is now a part of this ride', exclaimed Roger.

'And this thing runs on fusion power now, and now comes in an arsenal fit for one of those military spacecraft back home', remarked Zapad, with memories of their past as young cadets before they joined the mission.

Lynx-O entered the rover, and sits in the back as Roger and Zapad readied themselves to escape from the black Pyramid. Roger hits the booster pedal, and the rover kickstarts into power.

As Roger steered the rover straight towards the exit, Zapad leaned outwards to grab some weapons on the way out. However, the movement of the rover raised the attention of jackal guards as they charged towards the rover and fired rounds from their laser rifles. Roger ran them over as Zapad tried his best to grab some weapons. After securing a weapons crate as Roger stops the rover briefly, the rover soon buzzed off and escaped from the armory. The remaining guards stood still as they watched the rover drove off.

Roger and Zapad fist bumped as the celebrate their daring escape. Lynx-O questions the identity of the two human.

'Never knew your names. Who are you two?', asked Lynx-O.

'Buckley Rogers and Kaina Zapad, Cadets of the Terran Military Expeditionary Corps. We're sent here to investigate and eliminate a great evil in this planet. Turns out it's never that easy. Mumm-Ra, whatever that mummified corpse is, said we got some kind of trinity force. And that vultureman Vultaire has sent that monkeyman Addicus to capture the Thundercats.', explained Roger.

'Thundercats? The Thunderian nobility's in trouble. We got to find them. The city of Thundera may be fallen, but the royal family must be protected or all hope is lost.'. Lynx-O was shocked over the information given by the two humans, as it's been a long time since his capture when the city of Thundera has fallen, and no news for Lion-O and Tygra were known.

Zapad stood up from his seat and went to the food dispenser to prepare a drink and a snack for Lynx-O.

'Look, we just know you for a few minutes for no reason other than we're in prison together. I'll just prepare something for you to eat and chill for a while. Roger's putting as much distance away from the place.' Zapad explained as he set the dispenser to prepare a Vodka and Berry and a Nut and Cacao Cracker.

Zapad hands over the plastic packet with a red carbonated drink and a hard, light brown hardtack to Lynx-O. Lynx-O tasted the hardtack, as was satisfied by the taste of decent food after a long time in a cell. While the hardtack was dry, it's certainly better than slop prepared by the lizards. The drink only serves to make a decent meal a much enjoyable one.

Now in the middle of nowhere, the two humans were stuck with a lynx man, while pondering their next move.


	5. Chapter 5:Eye in the Storm

**The Men Who Saved The Future**

Based of the notorious yet ludicrous Turkish 'Star Wars', 'The Man Who Saves The World'

Thundercats belongs to Warner/RankinBass.

Chapter 5: Eye in the Storm

Lion-O, finally regained his composure, is now leading the Thundercats out of the mountain range. Panthro was waiting outside of the Thundertank, knowing too well how Lion-O felt ever since the fall of Avista. He's been following them at a distance ever since Lion-O ran off in a fit of rage over Pumyra's betrayal, leading to Tygra, Cheetara and the Wily twins to follow them. Avista, now landed onto the earth, is now a settlement for all races, with construction of the Cat's Lair underway.

Lion-O was surprised to find Panthro just waiting for them, but the rest of the Thundercats were comforted by the fact that help is within reach.

'Panthro? I thought you were at Avista.', asked Lion-O.

'I see you calmed down after dragging your friends into the mountains. I wouldn't let my Lord to simply run off that easily', replied Panthro. While the Lion-O simply ran straight into the wilderness, Panthro took charge of Avista for a while until he was worried about the rest of the Thundercats.

Lion-O began explaining about the vision he saw from the Book of Omens.

'I was looking at the Book of Omens while we're resting. I relived Leo's life once again, this time I saw 3 strange people, and hear about those peoples' ancestors has imprisoned Mumm-Ra before. I barely understand why the Book gave me all this information'. Lion-O explained to them while wondering the significance of the information.

Cheetara patted on Lion-O's shoulder, and comforted him.

'I'm sure you find out soon enough.', encouraged Cheetara.

Lion-o smiled as he slowly re-entered the Thundertank, with everyone followed suit.

As Panthro drove the Thundertank away, Slithe was watching it drove away with his binoculars, hiding at the cliffs. Just then, Pumyra brought in bad news.

'The two spacemen escaped alongside the captured Thunderian general Lynx-O.'. Pumyra informs Slithe, Addicus and Kaynar.

'They escaped? Those spacemen just got a lot more interesting.', laughed Kaynar.

'Now that general Lynx-O escaped as well, I might as well go and avenge the destruction of the many eggs I laid when he burnt the eggs and my village as he cleared the marshes for expansion of Thundera', Slithe declared as he heard the escape of Lynx-O.

'Wherever those spacemen go is of no concern, we must capture the Thundercats as soon as possible. We'll just follow wherever they go.', commanded Addicus.

With that in mind, they left the cliff as they prepare to follow the Thundertank. Pumyra felt a sense of fondness just by the thought of the Roger and Zapad. While fondness for Lion-O was incidental to her task as a spy, the humans are just different. There's something that they have that she can relate to those two humans. Maybe's the cosmic tragedy they told her during the journey to the Black Pyramid. Her past just resonated with the humans. Perhaps she made the wrong call when she betrayed Lion-O.

Pumyra shook her head as she closed her eyes, and followed Addicus, Kaynar and Slithe out of the cliff.

In the meantime, Lion-O was trying to figure out the location of the fourth Stone of Power using the vague directions given by the Book of Omens. The Wily twins were sleeping at the passenger seat in the behind, evidently tired after a long trek into the mountains. Cheetara was concerned over the supply of food and water. Regardless of the circumstances, they must resupply as soon as possible.

'We might have to look for somewhere where we can both resupply and find information of the Soul Stone', suggested Cheetara.

Lion-O turned to Cheetara, and nodded.

'I agree. Simply going into the middle of nowhere is my wrongdoing. We have to find some kind of settlement, and ask around.'

He turned to the Book of Omens, which merely points downwards.

'Although, the Book seems to lead us downwards. Does it mean that the Soul Stone is underground or underwater?'. Lion-O wondered. Last time they located the Stones of Power, it was in the floating city of Avista. The direction pointed might as well be a comparable situation.

'Don't worry about it, brother. We'll find a way to get the Soul Stone, and a vehicle to get there as well', encouraged Tygra, still familiar with the Feliner they acquired from the Soul Sever's lair, which allowed them to travel to Avista.

'That's the least of my concerns, I was worried about having to face Pumyra again. I was upset about her betrayal, but between my regret over saving her back in Dog City, I always hoped to bring her back from Mumm-Ra's side. Her anger over me has always been with us ever since we left the ruined Thundera. To have her back is a small step in burying the past', replied Lion-O. Now thinking about her death, he kept feeling that if only he still had just a little bit of hope that his people survived the fall of Thundera, none of the events in Avista would have happened. In one way, his hopelessness built an artificial barrier in defeating Mumm-Ra.

'I'm sure we can get back on track, Lion-O. There's no way lightning strikes at the same place twice.'. Tygra reassures Lion-O, still maintaining his positive outlook. The events unfolded in Avista has changed every Thundercat, but the most dramatic of all was the two princes, Lion-O and Tygra. With Lion-O feeling depressed over Pumyra's betrayal and Tygra's concern over his brother's outlook, they were in psychological roller coaster of choleric-melancholic temperament.

Panthro said nothing as he drove the Thundertank. While he had his satisfaction in imprisoning Grune, the traitorous sabretooth whom he fought alongside during their time in the Thunderian army, in the Astral Plane, the fact that Pumyra betrayed Lion-O evoked the very same pain as when Grune betrayed him when he kicked him into the abyss in the Black Pyramid.

'If that treacherous she-cat tried to kill you, my lord, I'll have her to meet Grune instead', swore Panthro, trying to assure Lion-O that Pumyra won't lay her paws at Lion-O should they meet again.

'I hope so, I don't think Pumyra will let me walk away alive.'

Just then, Cheetara noticed something outside the Thundertank.

'Look, there's a town over there. We can at least resupply, and hopefully we can find clues regarding the Soul Stone.', said Cheetara.

Panthro stopped the Thundertank when they arrived at the town gates. The Thundercats walked out of the Thundertank as they looked around town, hoping to find some information on the Soul Stone, even just a map of Third Earth. Lion-O looked around at the serene village, and tried to relax and put down those weighty thoughts for a moment. WilyKit and WilyKat woke up and jumped out of the Thundertank as they ran towards the town gates. Cheetara and Tygra followed, and Panthro turned towards Lion-O, watching him observing the grasslands.

'Lion-O, there will be time for thinking later. We'll find out about the Soul Stone here.', reminded Panthro.

Lion-O nodded as he entered the town gates. As the Thundercats looked around the town building, made of stone and thatch, he saw the townsfolk resembling sheep going about their quiet lives, blissfully unaware of the tense situation outside the town gates. Lion-O asked one of the sheep-folk regarding some information.

'Is there a library around this town?', asked Lion-O.

One of the sheep-folk replied.

'Just walk towards the town hall, and turn left.', replied the sheep-folk.

'Thanks, where's this place anyway?', asked Lion-O again.

'The Bolkin town of Owcashire. What's your name?', replied the Bolkin townsfolk.

'Lion-O, we're searching for the location of the Soul Stone. We only know it's below surface, but where it is, we don't know', explained Lion-O.

'Oh, if that's the case, you'll have to get a map instead. Here, let me show you the map'. The Bolkin took his map from his sling bag, and unrolled the map, showing him the area of Third Earth. Lion-O looked at the map, and was disappointed over the information provided from the map.

'This isn't exactly what we need, though. It's only the general area of Third Earth.' Lion-O observed the map which only depict the overall topography of Third Earth.

'Yes, and that why if you'll need to find the Ram Bolkins, just north of this town. Although they won't let you have the map easily. They're an aggressive kind of Bolkin who don't like anyone trespassing their area, especially when they have sharp horns to back up their threats.', explained the Bolkin.

'But why wouldn't they not like trespassers?', asked Lion-O.

'You see, the Ram Bolkins were among the best mapmakers, who used their maps to locate various sources of food, water and materials. They are a group of nomads, after all. They wouldn't like anyone to steal their secrets, lest they lose their advantage.'

'Thanks for your advice, I appreciate that', replied Lion-O, and left the Bolkin on his own.

Later in the sunset, Lion-O met the rest of the Thundercats at the Thundertank, to deliver the new intel. He saw Panthro and Tygra hauling the supplies into the Thundertank, while the Wily twins were placing some of it into the Forever Bag.

'There's a mapmaker just north of this town. They're the Ram Bolkins, and they won't let us have it that easily.', reported Lion-O.

'Then I guess we'll have to face them then.', replied Panthro, as he placed the sacks of grain into the Thundertank.

Lion-O turned towards the Owcashire town gate, and let out a sigh.

'It's just, I kept feeling that I've set myself up for failure right when we first set off our quest. If Pumyra's really on Mumm-Ra's side, then there's no one else to blame but myself. It's my fault that I let her die in the rubble, it's my fault for diminishing any hope for the survival of my people. I brought this setback upon myself.', Lion-O expressed his mild tinge of guilt as he spoke, letting Pumyra's past linger onto his mind as he tried to reflect upon his past.

Cheetara and Tygra show Lion-O some support, and spoke several words of encouragement.

'It may be just as likely that Pumyra was manipulated by Mumm-Ra to do those things, and she's actually on the path of goodness', Cheetara postulated her alternate theory on Pumyra's actions.

'And who knows, maybe you sown some good seeds just by your compassion to those lizards back at Thundera before the fall', Tygra reinforced Cheetara's message with a sense of hope that Lion-O's good deed will reward him in one way or other.

Lion-O looked at Tygra and Cheetara, and thought about those words of encouragement. He then breathed deeply, and thanked them for their support in those dire times.

'Thank you for being with me after all those difficulties, and I apologise for dragging everyone into the mountains shortly after Avista's fall.', Lion-O thanked his companions while apologising for his anger dragging them into unnecessary hardship.

'So, let's find those Bull Bolkins and get ourselves a map', said Tygra.

And the Thundercats set up a camp just nearby the Bolkin town, and prepared for their journey to search for the Ram Bolkins to obtain the complete map of Third Earth and locate the Soul Stone at last.


	6. Chapter 6:No Country for Cats and Men

**The Men Who Saved The Future**

Based of the notorious yet ludicrous Turkish 'Star Wars', 'The Man Who Saves The World'

Thundercats belongs to Warner/RankinBass.

Chapter 6: No Country for Old Cats and Young Men

After 6 hours' worth of escaping from the Black Pyramid, Roger and Zapad began to slow down and began re-evaluating their strategy in defeating the great evil Mumm-Ra. As Lynx-O was looking out from the rover turned light tank despite his blindness, Roger and Zapad were discussing their location while looking at the Earth map database from their multi-tool computer.

'Look, Zapad. Based on the surroundings, we're currently within the territory of the former Turkmenistan. Heading west, we'll enter the former Persian lands, and heading east, we'll enter the Afghan mountains.' Roger explains their location while discussing their next move.

'But Roger, even though much of the geography remains the same throughout the last thousand years, the terrain seems to have altered dramatically, far beyond what geological scale changes in climate can account for. It seems that the great evil's power has warped our planet's ecology.' Zapad, noticing the anomalous changes in the ecology of Third Earth and comparing it with that of First Earth, deduces the impact of the great evil's presence.

'It seems that we have much more to learn about this planet, and we can't conduct a full scan, the satellites were destroyed. We must get ourselves a map', concluded Roger.

Roger and Zapad came out of the rover-tank, and watched Lynx-O facing towards the sunset. Curious over Lynx-O's actions, Roger asked him questions.

'What exactly are you doing, Lynx-O?', asked Roger.

Lynx-O inhaled deeply, and lets out a deep breath.

'Simply by focusing onto the direction of the wind, and the sunlight hitting onto yourself, one can tell his location, and where his paths may lay', replied Lynx-O.

Trying to understand Lynx-O's saying, Roger asked another question.

'So, did you have any idea where we are?', asked Roger again.

Lynx-O kept quiet for a few seconds, before he responded.

'There's a city just south of our direction. Judging by the air the winds has brought to us, it just appeared a few weeks ago.', deduced Lynx-O.

Roger and Zapad turned towards each other, and spoke.

'That will be at the Baluchistan region, approximately 2 weeks to get there at maximum speed. We start travelling there immediately', said Roger, after a rough estimation.

'Then let's get to civilization then, and figure out how shall we proceed', said Zapad, eager to find some settlements after a long time in the wilderness.

Just before they entered the rover, Lynx-O called them out.

'One moment, you two.', announced Lynx-O.

Roger and Zapad turned around, awaiting Lynx-O's statement.

'Can any one of you fight?', asked Lynx-O.

Feeling that the senior cat-man was asking some kind of ridiculous question, Roger replied.

'Why of course, we're the space cadets, after all. Why did you ask?', responded Roger.

The lynx general sighed, and continued to talk.

'You may have trained in battle, but it ain't enough for dealing with the real deal. I've been through the fall of Thundera, and it's never a pretty sight.', explained Lynx-O, as flashbacks of the fall of Thundera echoed in his mind.

Lynx-O lectured on regarding his experience in the battle of Thundera when Mumm-Ra's army of lizards attacked the city state. As Roger tried to sleep his way out of the boring sermon-esque speech, Zapad hits Roger on his shoulder, insisting on listening to the general-in-exile.

After 15 minutes' worth of irrelevant drivel in the eyes of the two space cadets, Lynx-O ends his lecture with a statement.

'And now, show me how you two fight', announced Lynx-O.

Roger starts by charging at the blind general with his diamond-titanium tomahawks, and attempts to hack and slash him. Lynx-O dodges Roger's attacks, and grabs Roger's arms to disarm Roger's hands. Roger reacts by kicking Lynx-O's groin in an attempt to shake himself off, but only succeeds in moving Lynx-O by a few centimetres. Lynx-O headbutts Roger, knocking him on the dirt, and manages to take hold of the two tomahawks. While Roger admits defeat by raising his hands, Lynx-O touches the tomahawks to examine its handiwork.

'Hmm, made of a strong, yet lightweight metal, and reinforced with crystals. Has a well-made steel knuckle grip. Good weapon, but insufficient range of impact.', deduced Lynx-O.

Lynx-O turned towards Zapad, and offered a spar.

'Your turn', said Lynx-O, aiming his blind eyes at Zapad.

Zapad took his thermo-electro-kinetic pistols, and started by firing blasts of microwaves at Lynx-O. While the blasts manage to hit Lynx-O's torso, Lynx-O was unfazed. Zapad then sets the pistols to electric, and charges as he shoots arcs of electricity at him. After the electric arc struck Lynx-O with no effect, Zapad switches to kinetic, and fired slugs of metal ammunition at him. Lynx-O dodges the bullets, and jump over Zapad. Before Zapad can dodge, Lynx-O touched Zapad's pressure points with his fingers, stunning Zapad as he collapses on the dry, rocky dirt.

Lynx-O took one of the pistols, again examining its handiwork. Roger stood up as he saw Zapad slumped onto the dirt as he spasms, amazed by Lynx-O's martial prowess.

'Your weapon it's quite special, for a piece of technology. Not like anything I felt from the weapons the Lizards in Mumm-Ra's army possess.', Lynx-O spoke as he touched the pistol, trying to understand the working mechanism behind it.

'How exactly did you do all those things? And if you're this amazing, why are you captured?', asked Roger eagerly, amazed by the techniques Lynx-O used to whoop their sorry asses with.

'Simply by touching the pressure points on their body, one can disarm any enemy he come across. All without killing a single attacking enemy.', Lynx-O explains his combat technique.

As Zapad slowly wakes up from his spasms, trying to make sense of the situation, Roger was eager to learn the secret technique.

'Teach me, oh 'Sensei', for you shown remarkable skill', said Roger.

Zapad looked at Roger's eager look on his face, and nodded. Lynx-O nodded in sync.

'Very well, I shall teach you, and you all shall learn the art of real war', announced Lynx-O.

And soon the training commenced, as Roger and Zapad sparred against Lynx-O barehanded, learning various close-combat techniques. When not sparring against their 'sensei', Roger and Zapad tried punching holes onto the metal sheet that compromised the weapon crate, to limited degrees of success, only forming dents or scratches. By the time the sunset kicks in, Roger and Zapad breathed in deeply as they stared at the last metal sheet. They screamed hard, and thrusts their fingers upon the metal sheet. At long last, the metal sheet punctures.

Lynx-O approves their successful adeptness in his fighting techniques as he nods silently. It may not be complete mastery, but in the span of a whole day, it's remarkable enough on its own.

As Zapad and Roger surround their lit bonfire, toasting a synthesised meatloaf and some synthesised hardtack for extra warmth, preparing a light dinner. Lynx-O sat alongside the two spacemen, as Roger mans the fire pit to ensure no burning or overheating. When it's well done, Roger slices the meatloaf as he places it on the hardtacks. While eating their dinner, Lynx-O made some conversation with the two humans.

'So, young fellow, how was your time in the army look like?', asked Lynx-O, trying to learn about the Terran Military Expeditionary Corps.

'For starters, every citizen in Nova Terra had to join the TMEC after turning 16, unless they choose to enlist in other bureaus like the Institute for Science, Engineering and Technology Advancement or the Terran Public Works Administration. It's called 'Service for Citizenship', which means those who choose to serve the bureaus are guaranteed citizen benefits like voting, basic income, and tax exemptions.', explained Roger, while chewing on the mildly fungal, algal taste of the nutritious meatloaf.

'You mean your people vote for their leader?', inquired Lynx-O, unfamiliar with the republican form of government.

'Why of course. For a thousand years, we've maintained a democratic system where citizens vote on referendums on various policies, and through the voting of local admins, they vote for the sector admins and in turn, they vote for the First Speaker. The people decide on the policies, bit the admins decide on the leader of Nova Terra', Zapad explained on the Nova Terran political system while his mouth crunched on the herb and spice flavoured hardtack.

Lynx-O digested the explanations, and chewed onto the dinner. Those humans seemed to be quite strange after all, thought the lynx general.

'Anyways, Roger and I were drafted into military service when news of the rediscovery of Earth were announced. After discovering that Earth was nearly destroyed by a great evil, the people had a huge fervour to reconquer Earth, as we regard it to be our homeworld. Nova Terra, is actually a colony formed during the Platinum Age on Earth, a time when humanity prospered and the arts and sciences flourished. Can you imagine, just as we're in the midst of a glorious period, we just lost our homeland abruptly?', Zapad spoke further on, sipping on the Whisky and Ginger Ale from the plastic packet.

'Those times in TMEC were tough. We were trained in every branch of the armed forces, Army, Navy, Air Force and Space. We braved various harsh environments and exposed to various dangerous situations, all in the name of readying ourselves to face every obstacle. We learned how to fight with various weapons, and how to improvise on it. It's so brutal, most had to rest for months just from the introductory training, we ourselves included.', explained Roger.

'As a matter of fact, we don't even want to join the Corps. We were simply drafted into this mission in a campaign to fight against the great evil. I, was once an rancher in Sector Alpha, and Zapad over there, used to be working at his collective farm with his family and others in Sector Beta. From the time we met, we promised that we'll return home to celebrate the victory with our family, and to stay together alive', Roger spoke as he expressed their heart not truly with the mission given before leaving Nova Terra.

Lynx-O hears those words spoken by the spacemen, and looked down on the fire pit.

'You know, in war, one has to do many things one doesn't wish to do, and yet there's no option but to carry on what you're told to do, regardless of what will happen next. I was told to clear the swamps to expand the farmlands of Thundera, out of orders from Claudus, the king of Thundera. As always, he treats any Animal race other than the Cats with minimal mercy. At first I questioned the orders, out of doubt over the need for more farmland. Claudus simply dismissed me. As I burned the swamps, I saw several Lizards came towards the burning swamp, and were in a grave shock and fear. I don't know why, but it seemed to look like as if I just killed a lot of them. I've been hoping that what I feared was wrong, even as Mumm-Ra personally imprisoned me in his dungeons after Thundera's fall', muttered Lynx-O, now rethinking one of the tasks sent by their former king Claudus.

Roger and Zapad looked at Lynx-O's expression of worry, and tried to assure him.

'Well, regardless of our actions, we got to deal with the consequences that goes along with it, so we might as well brave the elements, with a stiff grin and some crossed fingers', spoke Roger, while forging a grin. Zapad follows suit.

Lynx-O smiled for the first time, and thanked them.

'Thanks for your affirmation, certainly going to make facing the lizards easier', replied Lynx-O.

As they ate their dinner in the nightscape, the rolling winds of the Khorasan desert blew over the rocky landscape, forming a calm moment before the uncertain future.


	7. Chapter 7:A Fistful of Parchment

**The Men Who Saved The Future**

Based of the notorious yet ludicrous Turkish 'Star Wars', 'The Man Who Saves The World'

Thundercats belongs to Warner/RankinBass.

Chapter 7: A fistful of parchment

It took only a few days before the Ram Bolkins' camp was found, as the Thundercats can tell from the smoke rising from the horizon, and light from the fire can be seen from afar. Tygra took notice of the light, and spoke to Lion-O to inform of the location.

'Lion-O, this is it. The camp the Bolkins talked about. I hope you know what you're doing', Tygra spoke as he glanced at his brother.

Lion-O looked back at Tygra and then towards the light.

'I do, and even if I don't, I must try', replied Lion-O.

They kept walking on the rolling hills, until eventually they arrived at the camp, where several horned, ram-like beings sat upon the rock circle as they tend to their pot of stew. One of them glanced at Lion-O, and grunted as he stood up.

'Who are ye strange lads and lasses trespassing our camp?', asked the Ram Bolkin, his large intimidating figure gave a menacing impression.

Lion-O replied to what he assumed to the leader of the clan.

'Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats. We seek a complete map of Third Earth, and we'll leave once we have obtained the map', replied Lion-O.

The Ram Bolkin laughed, and then turned to the other Ram Bolkins.

'Look at those cat-folk trying to pry our secrets. What do think they're trying to do with it? Roaming the land like us?', the leader of the clan spoke to the other clan members.

'We were looking for the Soul Stone, in our quest to defeat Mumm-Ra once and for all. The fate of everyone on Third Earth depends on it.', declared Lion-O, hoping that the Ram Bolkins understand the situation.

The Ram Bolkin clan leader glanced at Lion-O and the Thundercats, and decided to make a proposition.

'All right, since you dearly need the map, you can have it, but only if you proved yourself in front our band. How about you play a game along with us, young cat?', spoken the Ram Bolkin, followed by a laugh.

'What game?', asked Lion-O.

'Just a wrestling match, with arms', replied the Ram Bolkin clan leader.

The Ram Bolkin extended his arms towards Lion-O, as if he tried to challenge Lion-O.

'You win, and the map is yours. You lose, and I'll take your sword, gauntlet and everything on them.', stated the Ram Bolkin regarding the terms of victory and defeat, as he glanced on Lion-O's equipment

Realizing that failure will not only lose his weapon and armor, but also lose the Stones of Power that he had, Lion-O waivered on his decision to take the challenge. The last thing he need is to lose 2 both the Spirit Stone and the War Stone (Eye of Thundera) simply because he lost them in an arm wrestling match with nomadic ram-folk. But what choice does he had, as Mumm-Ra will obtain all the Stones of Power one way or other.

'Very well, I accept the terms', declared Lion-O, as he extended his hands and shook the Ram Bolkin's hand.

Now that the challenge is accepted, the other 2 Ram Bolkins assembled a stone table and two stones to sit upon as the Ram Bolkin leader watched. The other Thundercats were concerned over Lion-O's agreement of the terms.

'Lion-O, if you fail, you'll lose everything you could defeat Mumm-Ra with. I can only pray that the worst didn't happen upon us all', spoke Cheetara.

'We've already lost the battle before we even started it. It can't get any worse than this.', replied Lion-O, as the thought of him ignoring the dying moans of Pumyra echoed into his mind.

Lion-O let out a sigh as he thought about the odds of him failing the challenge, but he was called by the Ram Bolkin leader to start the challenge, and saw him sitting on a rock and waiting for him.

Lion-O sat upon the rock, face to face with the Ram Bolkin leader, as he sneered at Lion-O, evoking a sense of undefeatability.

'Ready when you are, Lord of the Thundercats', spoke the Ram Bolkin leader in a sarcastic manner.

Lion-O gave his hand, and along with the Ram Bolkin leader, they began to spar on the stone table as they wrestled their arms. As sweat rolled over the faces of both the Lord of the Thundercats and the Ram Bolkin chief, the rest of the Thundercats were discussing over Lion-O's condition.

'Lion-O seemed to be quite desperate to win this challenge, doesn't it', stated Cheetara. as she watched Lion-O's expression during the wrestling match.

'Failure's never an option for all of us, but for him, victory's the only option', responded Tygra, knowing how Pumyra's betrayal has affected him ever since that fateful day in Avista.

Tygra and Cheetara watched Lion-O struggle against the tough-looking arms of the Ram Bolkin leader, with almost a sign of losing.

'He can make it, I can sense the anger within his eyes as he wrestled', assured Panthro, as he looked at Lion-O's expression implying a sense of vengeful fury.

The Wily Twins, also looking at Lion-O and the Ram Bolkin's faces, understood Lion-O's emotions as they watched the wrestling continued on. WilyKit, hopeful as always, cheered him on.

'I'd never lose faith in you, Lion-O! Keep up with it!', cheered WilyKit.

WilyKat, understanding the need for morale support, cheered along.

'You can do it, Lion-O! You can beat him!', cheered WilyKat.

As Lion-O hears the cheering, he smiled, and wrestled on despite the increasing pain inflicted by the Ram Bolkin.

He then turned to the table, looking at the arms wrestling against each other and both refusing to give way. Thoughts began to unfold in his mind. He first remembered the first vision he saw from the Sword of Omens but didn't tell Jaga what was it, only to realise that those were Mumm-Ra's eyes he saw by the time Thundera's under attack. He then remembered Mumm-Ra and Pumyra's last words before the fall of Avista. Those very memories were scathing reminders of all the mistakes he ever done, all the things he could have prevented, all the thing that could have made him fail. The knowledge that Pumyra's cry for help was ignored by his desire for revenge, and her return as a vengeful spirit by Mumm-Ra's hand has reminded him of his duties as the Lord of the Thundercats, and strengthened his resolve to defeat Mumm-Ra, not only for his people, not only for Third Earth, but for Pumyra and himself. Pumyra's return to goodness will serve to redeem him for his mistakes, and allow him to better focus on redeeming his kind for their misdeeds.

Mustering every last bit of his willpower, he exerted his force upon his arm, and manages to overtake the Ram Bolkin's arm, and eventually slammed his arm upon the stone table. One victory for Lion-O after an epic scaled defeat, and Lion-O let out a sigh of relief for being able to keep his possessions. The Wily Twins jumped in joy for witnessing Lion-O's triumph, while Panthro clapped his hands in a stoic but satisfied manner. The Ram Bolkin chief admits defeat, and called one of the other Ram Bolkin to deliver the complete map of Third Earth to Lion-O.

'I must concede defeat, for you do have the strength. Consider this a deal followed through, Lord of the Thundercats, and we shall separate in peace' the Ram Bolkin declared.

After receiving the full map of Third Earth, Lion-O shook hands with the Ram Bolkin leader, and turned back as he joined the rest of the Thundercats to leave the camp. Before he left, Lion-O decided to tell the Ram Bolkins something else.

'There's a city just South-East from here. You'll find it an excellent place to find challengers, and I'm sure they'll appreciate someone to help rebuild the city', said Lion-O, mentioning about the crash-landed Avista to the Ram Bolkins hoping to find some allies.

The Ram Bolkin leader discussed with the other Ram Bolkins, and replied to Lion-O's offer.

'I'll speak to the other clans, to discuss about our new life in the city. You know whether we accept your offer or not', replied the Ram Bolkin.

As the Thundercats left the camp, Tygra patted on Lion-O's shoulder, and congratulated for his victory.

'Congrats, brother. You've finally got a grip on yourself', said Tygra.

Lion-O smiled as he walked, and replied Tygra's encouraging words.

'To be fair, the cubs were the ones encouraging me, but thanks for your support', replied Lion-O.

'I'm pretty sure your desire to bring Pumyra to your side wasn't just another romantic issue, is it?', inquired Tygra.

'She's the one who reminded me about my duties as Lord of the Thundercats, and to remind myself of the hardships of my enslaved kind. I'm going to bring her back to our side, to atone for my mistakes, just as I wish to unite all races to atone for my people's wrongdoing', answered Lion-O.

As the Thundercats made their journey back to the Thundertank to make their next move, a figure was hiding behind the upright rock. The figure turned out to be Pumyra, who overheard the conversation between Lion-O and Tygra. She can feel the sincerity of Lion-O's desire to have her turn to his side, and thought about those moment she spent with them as a spy. Without wasting her time, she quickly returned to the other generals.

As Slithe waited upon their mobile landcruiser, Pumyra make a statement of the Thundercats' progress.

'They got the full map of Third Earth, and they'll soon reach for the Soul Stone', spoke Pumyra.

'Why don't we simple ambush them instead of being of their tail all the time?', asked Addicus as he nearly lost his patience.

'Or maybe we could simple attack the Bolkin village to distract them and then steal the map from them', suggested Kaynar, itching for carnage to be unleashed from the psycho Jackal.

'Oh dear, do we really have to resort to such brute force to achieve our ends? Maybe it would be better if Mumm-Ra kicked you two out', remarked Vultaire, disappointed at Addicus and Kaynar's inability to restrain themselves and wait for the Soul Stone.

'Stop yapping, you wisebird! Smartasses like you always talk too much and act too little', retorted Kaynar.

'Mumm-Ra made me in charge of this team because I know Lion-O best. I know how he thinks and how he acts', reminded Pumyra, trying to discipline the quarreling generals.

'So, what do you think we should do, then?', asked Slithe.

'We'll just keep following them until they obtain the Soul Stone, then we ambush them and seize every Stone of Power they have', replied Pumyra in a serious manner.

The rest of Mumm-Ra's generals kept silent, and entered the landcruiser.

'Fine, I wouldn't be make noise anyhow, unlike those other 3', muttered Slithe as he entered the landcruiser.

Pumyra followed them and they left the scene cautiously without making a sound. With her as the leader of this operation, she can only hope that none of Mumm-Ra's plans fail due to the squabbling generals. All with be the price for her desire for revenge against Lion-O.

But between the words of the spacemen, and that of Lion-O and Tygra, her desire for revenge was in doubt. She wasn't sure whether the other Thundercats would accept her again even if Lion-O does. More importantly, should she turn against Mumm-Ra, would she cease to be living and 'move on'?

Pumyra shook her head, and returned her focus to the task at hand. Now cruising through the steppes, the whistling wind serves as a taste of things to come.


End file.
